Pink Stripes
by forget me knott
Summary: Sylvie finds out some surprising news.


Here's another fic I wrote! A pregnancy one! I plan on continuing with this little storyline actually :-) I don't own anything!

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Fuck.

Was the first word that ran through Sylvie's mind as she viewed the two light pink stripes on the plastic pregnancy test she was clutching in her hand. The first one that she had taken was on top of the toilet paper dispenser.

This couldn't be happening at literally the worst time in the entire world. Was this a joke? A scam?

No it's not. She told herself, still staring at the test. You're having a baby.

It was only a few days prior that Matt and Gabby had made the hardest decision of their lives to return Louie back to his birth father. The emotional turmoil would stick with them forever, but the wounds were still fresh. Gabby had only started back at work yesterday.

She was dealing with the loss of her child, and now Sylvie was going to have this news thrown in her friend's face, that she was pregnant? How could this get even more terrible?

Gabby would be happy for her, she definitely knew that. But it would naw at her insides, reminding her of the boy she had just given away. Sylvie didn't want to be that for Gabby.

And then there was Antonio. The father of the baby she was know carrying.

Yes, they were pretty serious. She had just met his kids a couple weeks ago. That has  
to be the biggest sign of 'we are in a serious relationship'.

However, they haven't reached the subject of kids yet. Yeah, he already has two kids, but does he want more? Personally she had always wanted kids, but honestly hasn't been thinking of them during her relationship with Antonio. It has just been so new, different. They had a considerable age difference, plus he was divorced with two kids.

She continued sitting on the toilet, staring at the test. Yes, she had to worry about how she was going to tell Antonio and Gabby, as well as if she would continue working as a paramedic during her pregnancy. The job wasn't as dangerous as being a firefighter, however it wasn't a safe desk job. She had a lot of things to be cautious about.

Most the important thing of all, she was going to be a mother. And when she thought about it, she technically already was, to this little bean who was living in her body. Sylvie lifted up her shirt halfway, gingerly resting her hand on her stomach. She knew it would be months before she will feel her baby kick, but just the realization that there was a human growing in her was enough to bring her to tears.

The opening of the bathroom door brought her back to reality. She wiped her tears away and brought her shirt back down. She then stuffed both of the tests into her pocket, making sure they were deep enough so no one would see them and they also wouldn't fall out.

She exited the bathroom, trying to ignore the strange feeling that was taking over her entire body. She then realized that 'strange feeling' she was trying to suppress: pure joy and excitement. She was going to be a mother!

"What the hell is up with you?"

Her thoughts came into a screeching halt when she remembered that she was no longer alone. Cruz was sitting at one of the tables, giving her a puzzled look.

"Did you just get some really good news?" He pressed, leaning his chin on his hands. "If you do, you should share it. We could all benefit from hearing good news."

"Er." Sylvie dumbly stared at Cruz, not knowing what to say. Ultimately, she did not want him to know before she told Antonio. "Uh, my sister had a baby." Not a total lie. Her sister did have a baby. Three years ago.

For some reason Cruz bought her terrible lie. "Oh, cool." He said, looking a little disappointed by her news. He returned his attention back to the newspaper in front of him.

Sylvie quickly left the room, her mind still whirling. She couldn't keep this to herself for forever. She wanted to tell someone so badly. But she was only in the middle of her shift, and wouldn't be able to see Antonio until tomorrow.

In her distraction, Sylvie ran into Stella. "Oof!" She began to fall back, but she was able to maintain her balance. However she immediately grabbed hold of her stomach, thinking of the human life she was now carrying. I have to be more careful. She reminded herself, returning her attention back to Stella, whose eyes were staring at her stomach and the hand that was resting over it.

She resisted the urge to quickly take it off and instead just kept her hand there. "Stomach ache." She explained, hoping Stella wouldn't be suspicious.

"Cramps?" She asked, a sympathetic expression on her face. "Had mine last week."

It definitely wasn't cramps, but Sylvie went along with it. "Yeah, my time of the month." She pretended to look annoyed and also let out a little sigh.

"Sending prayers." Stella squeezed Sylvie's shoulder as she passed.

"Thanks." She mumbled, trying to keep control of her nerves and excitement. How was she going to keep this secret? She never was good at keeping them anyways.

But it was like God had just answered her prayers when the alarm went off above, calling for Ambulance 61, Truck 81, and Squad 3. Hopefully the distraction of work would keep her focused and preoccupied.

Gabby was already in the driver's seat when Sylvie arrived to the garage. "I hope you don't mind." She told her, starting the engine.

Sylvie shook her head, she never particularly cared if she drove or not. "It's fine by me." She responded. She sat in silence as Gabby pulled forward, leaving the firehouse and entering on the main road.

The address that the dispatcher gave turned out to be a location of a lake, which was now frozen due to it being the middle of January. And in the middle was a trio of three teenagers, one already in the water and the two others struggling to stay on top of a block of floating ice. To Sylvie's dismay, they also were clearly intoxicated, at four in the afternoon.

"Jesus." Gabby sighed next to her, as they observed Truck and Squad getting to work.

"I know." Sylvie commented, anxiously watching as multiple members of 51 carefully walked on the frozen ice. She wondered how thick, or thin, it was.

"You have the blankets ready, right?" Gabby asked, before becoming quiet when she realized that Sylvie was holding them in her hands. "You're one step ahead of me." She complimented, grabbing one of the blankets.

"Sylvie!"

Sylvie squinted her eyes, trying to visually find out who was calling her name. She noticed Herrmann waving his arms in the air.

She handed the blankets in her arms over to Gabby, approaching the frozen lake with caution. "Yeah?" She raised her voice so Herrmann was able to hear her.

"Can we pass the victims to you?" He asked. "You're the smallest, it would be the safest way."

Sylvie ignored how her stomach was now twisting at his request. It would be fine, she was only going to be going about ten feet out onto the ice, and this was her job. And not only was she helping the victims, she was helping her fellow 51 members as well. But her mind couldn't help but immediately begin thinking about her child residing in her…. But she shook that thought away. She would be fine, she had nothing to worry about. She had to do her job and in order to do that she had to push those type of concerns away. Right now she had to focus on getting the three teenagers safely back to land while also making sure she wouldn't fall through the ice herself. "Sure." She gave in, taking a tentative step forward, visibly cringing when she heard the barest of crackling of the ice below her.

"You good?"

Sylvie nodded, trying to keep her anxiety at bay. "Yeah, I think so." She kept taking cautious steps towards Herrmann, unable to hold back a sigh of relief when she was able to grasp onto one of the teenagers. Sylvie realized that he was the one who had fallen in, as he was soaked and wouldn't stop shivering.

Sylvie retraced her steps, and once she reached Gabby, she wished that she didn't have to go back on the ice. But without a second thought, she headed back onto the frozen lake.

The second trip went as smoothly as the first, but halfway through bringing the last boy back to safety, the ice began to split.

"Jump!" She screamed at the boy, pushing him forward. Somehow she was strong enough to cause him to move decently forward, only one of his feet went into the water, but he was able to pull himself out.

Sylvie has been out in the coldest weather during various work calls, feeling like she had achieved the ultimate level of coldness. Living in the Windy City she thought she had felt it all, the hot weather and the cold. But when she fell into the subzero water, she knew this was an experience that she has never gotten close to. She felt like she was in the cold version of hell.

Time felt like eternity in the frozen water, but it was actually only seconds later she was pulled out by Severide and Capp. She was feeling slightly delirious, still in shock from what had just happened.

A blanket was thrown over her shoulders. Gabby's face was suddenly in front of her, her glove-clad hands clutching her cheeks. "Are you okay?" She demanded.

Sylvie nodded, her body unable to stop shaking. "J-Just a little cold." She tried to reassure her friend, but when she spoke her teeth wouldn't stop chattering.

Gabby grabbed Sylvie's arm, pulling her towards the ambulance where the three teenagers were residing, all huddled up under blankets. Sylvie tried to protest, but Gabby wasn't having it.

"Get in there." She demanded. Sylvie complied, knowing that fighting against a stubborn Gabby would be a lost battle.

She sat down next to one of the boys, bringing the blanket tighter around her body to try to warm herself up. But she new that until she got her soaked clothes off, she wouldn't be helping herself much anytime soon.

Horror filled her body when she realizes that she isn't the only person that she should be worrying about. She has a very, very small human being growing inside her, one that is certainly more fragile than she is. Yes, Sylvie logically knew that the few seconds she spent in the subzero water probably wasn't enough to hurt her baby, but she was a mother now. And a mother's job was to worry. Her own mom used to tell her that all the time, but now she finally understood what she had meant.

"Hey, you okay lady?" The boy next to her spoke up, words slurring together. Sylvie tried to appreciate the concern, but he was breathing directly into her face and it was making her feel nauseous.

She tucked her head down towards her chin. "Yeah," She muttered, trying to keep her composure. When she got to the hospital, she could ask them to check her baby. Just for a precaution. The stress of not knowing wasn't good for the baby as well.

She lifted her wet shirt slightly, just to reveal her stomach. Her blanket was covering the majority of her body, so she knew she was having a private moment between her and her child. She pressed her hand to her skin, and closed her eyes. She leaned her head back, wondering why this was the longest ambulance ride of her life.

The next thing she knew, she was being shaken back and forth. Sylvie's eyes flew open, and blinked a couple times before finally seeing Gabby come into focus.

"Here." She handed Sylvie an extra pair of their paramedic uniform. "I'll get them all situated inside, but text me immediately if you need anything, alright?"

Sylvie nodded. "I'll be in right after I change." She reassured her.

Gabby began to get off of the ambulance, but then stopped, unzipping her jacket and throwing it at Sylvie. "We don't have an extra jacket, so you wear that."

Sylvie opened her mouth to complain, but Gabby didn't let her. "No arguing. You just fell into a frozen lake in the middle of winter. Now get dressed." She then finally left, shutting the vehicle's doors behind her.

Sylvie had a little difficulty removing her wet clothes, they were sticking to her skin, but felt relief when they were finally off. To her disappointment, there weren't any spare bras or underwear, but decided to just go commando for the time being. She was only going to be in the hospital for a short time, and then would be back at the firehouse to put on clean undergarments.

After pulling on the jacket Gabby loaned her, Sylvie opened the doors and stepped out of the vehicle. She shivered, her body still cold from earlier. Picking up her pace, she entered the hospital, sighing with relief when she felt the warm air hit her skin.

"Are you better?" Gabby questioned, examining Sylvie with concern. "You could go sit down and rest for a couple of minutes."

Sylvie spotted Natalie Manning a few feet away. "Actually, I'm going to go to the bathroom." She told Gabby, keeping her eyes on the pediatrician. "I won't be long!" She then made a beeline for the doctor, making sure she sped up her pace once she was out of Gabby's line of sight.

"Natalie!" She managed to grab a hold of her lab coat, getting the woman to stop in her tracks. She let go quickly, not wanting to seem rude. "I'm sorry for disturbing you…"

Her eyebrows furrowed. "What's wrong?"

Before she revealed anything, Sylvie wanted to make sure that Natalie wasn't busy. "Do you have anywhere specific you need to be right now?" She asked.

"Not particularly—"

"Good!" She blurted in relief, and then took a deep breath to try to calm herself down. "Good." She repeated.

Natalie grew more concerned. She grabbed Sylvie by the arm, pulling her into an empty room. "What's going on?"

Sylvie's hands began to cradle her stomach as only just began imagining herself telling her the news. She realized that she didn't even have to speak out loud, Natalie's eyes followed her movement and widened. She realized what was going on. Sylvie wasn't surprised, the woman was a doctor after all.

"Wow, congrats!" She wholeheartedly told her. Sylvie now had a permanent smile on her face, she had someone else to enjoy her news with. Natalie wasn't the ideal first person to tell, they weren't really even friends, merely acquaintances, but with the circumstances she knew that she had to let the cat out of the bag.

"Thanks." Sylvie warmly told the doctor. "I'm actually here for a specific reason, though…" And she explained her situation to Natalie, that she had fallen into the lake, only briefly, but wanted to make sure the baby was okay.

"Sure, I can do that for you." She gestured for Sylvie to take a seat. She explained herself as Sylvie sat down in the chair. "Total coincidence that this is a room with an ultrasound."

"As quickly and efficiently we can do this, the better." Sylvie couldn't help but squirm when the fluid was placed on her stomach. "I need to head back to work. Gabby thinks I'm in the bathroom."

"When are you going to tell her?" Natalie asked as she moved the device over her stomach. "Are you waiting?"

"Not really, well not in that sense." Sylvie admitted. "She just gave up a child that, while wasn't biologically hers, was hers in every other sense. Letting her know I'm pregnant would be a slap in the face."

"So….."

"So I plan on not letting her know for at least a couple more weeks." Sylvie explained. "It's for the best."

"Are you able to continue working as a paramedic while in your condition?"

"I was planning on just for the next couple of weeks, but then today happened. And I don't know anymore." She confessed, letting her head rest back against the head cushion.

But Natalie was looking at the screen above her. Sylvie's eyes followed, as her heart began pounding faster than it ever has when she viewed her tiny bean.

"Wow." She breathed, staring with amazement. "That's…..that's amazing." She was finding it hard to accurately voice how she was feeling.

"And the baby looks perfectly healthy." Sylvie couldn't hold back a grin when Natalie told her the news. "You're at 8 weeks, I think."

"Could I get a picture?" Sylvie asked. Natalie nodded, heading out of the room briefly. "Actually, could I have two?" She called out. Antonio would probably like one.

At this, Natalie turned around, an own smile on her face. "For the father?"

Sylvie nodded. "Yeah, for the father." She repeated, but the smile on her face stretched from ear to ear.

When Sylvie headed back to the front of the hospital, Gabby was sitting in one of the chairs, looking impatient. Sylvie gulped, wondering what kind of excuse she could use to explain why she was apparently 'in the bathroom for the past 20 minutes'.

"Sorry I took so long." Sylvie apologized as she approached her.

But to her surprise, the annoyance on Gabby's face cleared up right when she noticed her. "It's fine, you probably needed the few extra minutes to yourself."

"Yeah, I feel a lot better." But what Gabby didn't know was she was feeling better for an entirely different reason. Knowing that her baby was okay, and getting to actually see it has totally flipped her mood around. However Sylvie knew she couldn't let her emotions show, Gabby would certainly become suspicious.

They left the hospital, preparing for more calls once they got back to the fire station. Luckily for Sylvie, the rest of the shift went by smoothly. She didn't have any risky situations like the frozen lake scenario, and was able to put all of her focus into her job.

Sylvie had just changed out of her work clothes and was grabbing the remaining stuff out of her locker when Stella appeared over her shoulder. "Molly's tonight?" She questioned. "After that hellish experience earlier today, I think you deserve a drink."

Too bad she couldn't for another nine months, Sylvie sadly thought to herself. "Another night." She promised the firefighter, shutting her locker door. "I think I want to go home and get a good night sleep."

Thankfully Stella didn't push any harder to try to convince her to go out. "We will miss you." She told her, leaving the room. "If you change your mind, come straight down."

Sylvie laughed, following her out. "It's eleven at night, I don't think I will be changing my mind."

She wasn't planning on telling Antonio about the pregnancy until tomorrow, but with today's events and the two photographs carefully tucked away in her purse, she couldn't wait. He was probably getting ready to go to bed, or could be already asleep, but he wouldn't be mad when he hears this exciting news. At least Sylvie kept telling herself he was going to be excited. She wouldn't let herself go down the path of negativity.

Stella seemed to have guessed where she was heading to. "Going to your boy's place?" And laughed when Sylvie's face started to turn red.

They exited the building, heading to their respective cars. As Sylvie got into her car, she hears Stella call out one last thing. "The offer still stands!"

Sylvie stuck her head out of her window, laughing. Stella was super persistent. "I'll tell Antonio you said hello!"

She didn't wait to hear Stella's reply, or maybe her friend didn't hear her at all. Either way, Sylvie started her car, trying to control her nerves as she headed to Antonio's apartment.

She had both pregnancy tests and the two sonograms in her bag, definitely planning on using at least one of them when she revealed to Antonio that she was pregnant. Or she was going to use both. Honestly, she had completely no idea what she was going to do once she got to his place. Would she say a long speech, or just blurt it out? A part of her was worried her emotions would take over and she would start hysterically crying. She probably was going to end up winging it, but trying to have multiple backup plans was helping lessen her anxiety.

She refused to let herself come up with a plan if he didn't want the baby. She wouldn't let her mind enter that territory. There was no reason to freak out over something that might not even happen.

Still, Sylvie knew the knots in stomach wouldn't be untangled until she would see Antonio's reaction.

After pulling into the garage of Antonio's apartment complex, Sylvie took a couple minutes to herself to try to calm down and collect her thoughts.

"I can do this." She told herself out loud, the overwhelming silence of everything else making her focus just on her voice. "Everything will be okay."

After allowing herself a moment of silence, she took a deep breath and stepped out of her car.

The walk to his specific apartment seemed longer than usual, definitely because of the added anticipation she was feeling. But she soon made it to the elevator, and then finally was on the floor his apartment resided on.

"Well here goes nothing." Sylvie muttered, taking one more deep breath before knocking on Antonio's door. He had given her a key, but she honestly felt like she was still barging into his apartment with it, so she preferred knocking.

Minutes passed, which made Sylvie realize that he had to have been sleeping. Good going, Sylvie. She thought to herself, bouncing her weight back and forth between her legs. She knew if she had to wait any longer she would between pacing the hallway.

But the door opened. And unfortunately she was right, Antonio was in his pajamas with bed-head hair, looking exhausted. Sylvie racked through her brain, trying to remember what day of the week it was….

"Oh no!" She cried out, her free hand going over her mouth in shock. "It's Wednesday, isn't it?"

Her tired boyfriend nodded, letting out a loud yawn. "Yeah, it's Wednesday." He repeated.

Wednesday's were his worst days at work, for no particular reason. He always seemed to have the hardest cases with the most difficult of families. And countless other obstacles seemed to show up. A couple weeks ago, his coffee maker broke on a Wednesday. And a few weeks before that, he got a flat tire.

Sylvie had no idea what happened this particular Wednesday, but judging by his exterior appearance, it was exactly the same as the others.

"I'm sorry, Antonio." She gently grabbed one of his hands, allowing herself into his apartment. "But I have news that couldn't wait until morning." She directed the sleepy man to the couch, eagerly awaiting his every move.

"It's fine." He yawned again. "Is something wrong?"

"No. I mean, you could possibly think it will be wrong, but I don't think you will—" Sylvie was realizing exhaustion was getting to her, as she was finding it difficult to articulate her words accurately.

"Sylvie, just tell me. We both won't know how I will feel until I know what the news is."

"I think it might be better if I show you." She told him, bringing her bag into her lap. As she searched through, trying to find one of the pregnancy tests and sonograms, she could feel Antonio's confusion grow.

"What do you mean show me?"

Sylvie didn't answer him, her attention on her bag and what was inside it. She unzipped one of the side compartments, gingerly pulling out one of the sonograms. She removed it from the bag quickly, yelling "don't look!" to Antonio, who claimed he wasn't, but Sylvie knew he was trying to get some kind of clue. She tucked the piece of paper underneath her thigh, making sure she wasn't going to crinkle it.

She found the pregnancy test a few seconds later. This was it, the moment of truth. There was no reason to delay it for any longer.

She reached for the sonogram, making sure the plastic test was in her other hand. After taking another deep breath, she plopped but of the objects into Antonio's lap.

She dug her nails into her thighs, trying not to freak out over the anticipation of his reaction. She doesn't remember any other moment she has felt this anxious and excited.

He picked both objects up, one in each hand. But Sylvie was intently watching his face, wanting to see every emotion that came across his face.

The first she was able to distinguish was shock, which Sylvie was able to understand. Hell, that was the first one that she felt herself.

But then Antonio directed a question at her. "Is this–Are you really–" His eyes were wider than she had ever seen them, and his jaw was on the floor. He was completely caught off guard.

Not sure if she could trust herself from having an emotional breakdown, she only nodded her head.

She let out a shriek when Antonio suddenly pulled her forward, bringing her onto his lap.

"The sonogram—" She warned him, not wanting to damage it.

"It's on the table, it's fine." He mumbled into her hair. He kept his hold on Sylvie, but brought his head back, making eye contact with her. "This is real? One hundred percent real?"

"It's one hundred fifty percent real." Sylvie reassured him, resting her hands on his thighs. "You're going to be a dad again, old man." She couldn't resist the tease. At the beginning of their relationship, she knew their age difference was a sore spot to him, but now he only rolled his eyes and scoffed when Sylvie decided to throw in the rare dig.

"I'll keep that in mind when you're 9 months pregnant, begging me to go out to get you some specific kind of ridiculous food." Antonio dryly told her, shutting her up. "I won't be able to go out, my joints will be aching." But even he still had a big smile on his face, letting Sylvie know that he wasn't serious.

"So you're happy?" Sylvie couldn't resist asking, wanting a confirmation.

"Hell yes I am happy!" He told her, reaching over to pick up the sonogram. He stared at it in amazement, tracing his fingers over the picture of the tiny fetus. "Holy shit." He mumbled, only awe shining through his eyes.

"Holy shit, indeed." She echoed his words, as love filled her heart while silently viewing Antonio examine the paper, one of the most amazing sites she has ever witnessed in her life.


End file.
